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Hennepin/Lyndale and West 15th Street

As Bradley points out in the video this bicycle facility (a side path) ends abruptly at 15th Street with no suitable transition to the trail system in Loring Park. Some other problems associated with side paths as bicycle facilities are evidenced in Bradley's video, namely frequent curb cuts to driveways and intersections crossing the path.

This design makes the side path act, in essence, as a sidewalk where bicyclists are five times more likely to experience a collision than they are riding on the street. Also evidenced in the video is the lack of a sidewalk for pedestrians which results in this being a very narrow mixed use path directly adjacent to a road that carries a high volume of motor vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. In this situation the City of Minneapolis may have come up with the worst possible design for bicycles.

A better approach would be to calm traffic on the Hennepin/Lyndale Commons by taking away some of the space currently dedicated to moving motor vehicles to free up space for properly designed sidewalks for pedestrian traffic and high quality on-street bicycle facilities for bicycle traffic. Signal timing can also be optimized to keep motorists and bicyclists moving at more similar speeds. Optimizing signals for bicycles is known as the Green Wave and has been shown recently in San Francisco to not only result in improved roadway conditions for cyclists, but also to result in more smoothly and efficiently moving motorized traffic.

The Minnehaha Roundabout

The much maligned Roundabout takes a lot of heat here in Minnesota where this very effective intersection design is rarely used and, as a result, is greatly misunderstood. As with all designs the devil is in the details and for a Modern Roundabout to be effective, it must be well designed for all road users including bicyclists and pedestrians. More information on properly designed modern roundabouts is here >.

As demonstrated by Bradley in the video a bicyclist needs to enter and pass through the roundabout in the center of the lane in order to avoid being cut off by passing motor vehicles. A simple, low cost solution for the Minnehaha roundabout would be to provide signs directing bicyclists to use the full lane and directing motor vehicles to not pass bicycles in the roundabout.

Another option provided to bicyclists in a properly designed roundabout is a curb cut where cyclists have the option of passing through the intersection as a pedestrian on the sidewalks. The Minnehaha design does provide this, but it does not provide a properly designed median which provides a refuge for pedestrians (and cyclists) crossing through the intersection. With a well designed median the pedestrian or cyclist only has to negotiate crossing one general traffic lane at a time. The Minnehaha design has only a very narrow median after the end of the crosswalks with no median extension before the crosswalks, leaving the pedestrian or cyclist without a safe refuge.

Two other problems with this roundabout design is a lack of lighting at night and the lack of a structure in the center of the roundabout (a planting, a fountain or a sculpture for example) which calms motorized traffic by breaking the through sightline of drivers. A visual obstruction in the roadway causes motorists to slow down as they cannot see a wide open road in front of them.

The most important piece of roundabout design is the design speed--the speed at which a vehicle can possibly travel on a road due to its geometric design. Roads designed to move vehicles at high rates of speed is a common problem in situations with poor bicycle and pedestrian design and is a recurring theme in this post.

Cedar and Riverside Avenues

The major problem with Cedar and Riverside is that both Avenues are four lane designs which almost always results in poor conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. A multi-lane (in each direction) road design encourages high motor vehicle speeds and aggressive weaving behavior by motorists attempting to pass slower moving vehicles and from motorists attempting to avoid and overtake other vehicles making turns. The multiple lanes in each direction also result in a longer distance for pedestrians to cross which means they have less time to safely cross the roadway.

In this case the best solution is to put these roads on a diet. A four to three lane conversion can provide room to move more than enough motor vehicles while allowing space for high quality on-street bicycle lanes. A three lane configuration also takes away aggressive motorist behavior as there is no lane weaving and a dedicated turn lane exists for left turns. Pedestrians also have fewer lanes of motor vehicle traffic to negotiate on a three lane configuration.

A four to three lane conversion has been proposed for Riverside. Let's hope the City of Minneapolis follows through with this and that they look at putting Cedar on a road diet as well. More information on Road Diets or four to three lane conversions can be downloaded here >.

University Avenue and I-35W ramps

Once again we have an intersection of two roadways designed to move a high volume of motor vehicles at high rates of speed. This is the main detriment to the bicycling and walking environment at this location. As a former full time motorist myself, I know the felling of transitioning from a freeway where cars regularly travel anywhere between 55 and 75 mph to a city street where cars are expected to move at or below 30 mph--it feels like one is barely moving. The result, unfortunately, is that motorists are likely to move at rates of speed above 30 mph after exiting freeways, especially if the transition is to a road with a very high design speed like University Avenue in Minneapolis.

My solution is once again to calm the traffic by implementing a multi-modal design that accommodates motor vehicles, transit, bicycles and pedestrians. This concept is often seen as "radical" around these parts, but the most livable cities in the world do not run freeways through their urban cores. Instead, the freeways transition down to multi-modal boulevards with lower design speeds which help keep everyone moving without sacrificing the quality of our urban built environment to the singular goal of moving motorized traffic through our central cities. This brief video demonstrates what I-35W could be like with a multi-modal boulevard design within the inner city.

26th Street and Lyndale Avenue South

I'm really not trying to sound like a broken record, but once again Lyndale and 26th Street need to be put on Road Diets. The main problem at this location is roadways designed for high speed and aggressive driving of motor vehicles. Lyndale could be converted to a three lane configuration with bike lanes and 26th Street (and it's one-way pair on 28th Street) could be converted to two-ways with a three lane configuration with bike lanes.

One-way streets have been shown to result in higher rates of motor vehicle speed due to the lack of potential conflicts with opposite direction traffic. 26th Street and 28th Street in South Minneapolis act as mini freeways (at least east of Lyndale where there is less money and less political power) that divide communities and present many obstacles for safe and pleasant biking and walking.

Hennepin Avenue. All of it.

Ah Hennepin Avenue, the subject of heated debate at the moment in Minneapolis. I've actually already done a quick cross section of my preferred design for Hennepin. The City of Minneapolis has plans to convert Hennepin (along with its one-way partner 1st Avenue) to two-way operation. This is a good step, but unfortunately, the city is planning for the new design to be four lane roads which I've already disparaged thoroughly above.

Short of a three lane configuration for Hennepin a solution to the specific problem shown in Bradley's video of the bike lane ending is a Bike Box (aka an advance stop box). A Bike Box moves the stop bar for motor vehicles back a few feet, providing space for a right turning (or forward moving in this case) cyclist to safely maneuver to the right hand side of the road during the red light cycle. Bike Boxes also allow cyclists to position themselves in front of stopped motor vehicles at a red light so they can improve their visibility to turning motor vehicles at intersections. A brief video demonstrating Bike Boxes in Portland, OR is here >.

Lyndale and Franklin Avenues

At this location Franklin is a 4 lane and Lyndale is a 5 lane road (with dedicated left turn lanes). I'll be brief here by commenting that fewer and more narrow general traffic lanes can provide space for hight quality on-street bicycle facilities. Bike Boxes would also facilitate safer turning movements for cyclists and motorists alike.

28th Street and Portland Avenue

Like 26th and 28th Streets, Portland and Park Avenues in South Minneapolis are a pair of one-ways that act as quasi freeways dividing communities and posing significant challenges to biking and walking. It is normal for motor vehicles to travel at rates exceeding 35 mph on Portland and Park. This results in a very uncomfortable (and potentially unsafe) environment given the narrow bicycle lane and on-street parking which leaves little buffer between a cyclist and motor vehicles passing closely at very high speeds.

Also like 26th and 28th, a good solution would be to calm traffic by converting Portland and Park to two-way operation with fewer general traffic lanes and wider bicycle lanes. Signal timing is also and issue on Park and Portland. The current signal timing is set up to move vehicles at around 35 mph. Optimizing signal cycles for lower speeds can improve the conditions for biking and walking.

Central and Lowry Avenues

At this location Central Avenue is a five lane road that crosses a major east/west route (Lowry Avenue). Once again, fewer (and narrower) general traffic lanes can provide ample room for quality on-street bicycle facilities and an improved pedestrian environment.

This concludes my run down on these Minneapolis intersections that are perceived to be dangerous by local cyclists and that have high collision statistics. An old engineering joke is that intersections are places where people go to have conflicts. While this is true by definition, there are many ways in which we can better design our intersections to minimize conflicts (and collisions) while encouraging positive interactions between community members.